


Starlight

by Aithilin



Series: Nyx Ulric Appreciation Week 2020 [4]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Night Drive, Nyx Ulric Appreciation Week, Slice of Life, The Star of Lucis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:55:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24857191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aithilin/pseuds/Aithilin
Summary: There are some days Noctis would swear his boyfriend loves the car more than him.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Nyx Ulric
Series: Nyx Ulric Appreciation Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1794022
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	Starlight

The Star was a thing of beauty. A sleek testament to Lucian workmanship. Nyx had dreams about cars like it when he was young and stupid back in Galahd. He had fantasized about the Crown City models when all he had were the trucks handed down from his father, barely held together with a bit of luck and a lot of swearing as he hammered out some sort of life beneath the dented hoods. 

The Star had none of the dents, rust, or flaws of the old beasts Nyx was used to. He almost expected it to ripple beneath his touch as he let his hand wander across the smooth surface. The bright lights of the Citadel Plaza only highlighted every clean curve and glittering accent designed to both be a beacon of the Lucian royal taste and a discreet vehicle for the safety of the Crown Prince. Garish advertisements still within sight of the palace just made it shine all that much more as the sun dipped below the skyline. 

He had once dreamed of cars like this. Dreamed of shadows moving through neon city streets. 

“Do you want to drive?”

Nyx knew how the car handled. He knew that it was a ghost among the other cars winding their way through the city. He knew that it was responsive and eager, that he’d never have to fight with it just to get it moving. Even the most expensive cars zipping through the labyrinth of Insomnia’s highways and residential roads were pale imitations to the creature being offered up to him now. 

He knew that he should demure. He should refuse the offer, or reconfirm it before making the assumption that Noctis was serious about it. He knew that he shouldn’t. 

Instead, Nyx was already halfway to the driver’s side door when he held his hand up for the keys. “Come on, Highness, can’t just leave the offer hanging.”

The keys were a comfortable but alien weight in his hands, a promising chime as he closed his fist around them. 

“Stop grinning, hero,” Noctis said as he moved around to the passenger side; “you’re making me uncomfortable.”

“Not every day I get to drive a beauty like this.” 

“Fine, but do you have to fondle it?”

Nyx paused, realization dawning that he had been running his hands along the steering wheel while he waited for Noctis to settle. The actual movements to get into the car, get settled in the seat, had been a blur. He had moved on instinct, euphoric as everything slid into place around him. “Yes, I do.”

The Star came to live around him, a smooth purr as he made his final checks before pulling out of the Plaza and into traffic. The world around them was a pulse of light and life. Everything hummed around him; life pulsed around him, the citizens already flooding the street in their sleepless search for entertainment. 

“This,” Nyx mused as Noctis watched the city blur past them; “is peace.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“No, I mean it.” A red light glared ahead as traffic slowed to a crawl and Nyx took stock of their surroundings. There had been several turn offs already that would have taken them to Noctis’ neighbourhood, there were several more within sight that could still curl back around to the right streets. But the call of the open road was far more appealing. “This, right here. Nice car, a more or less open road, boyfriend by my side. It’s all perfect.”

“You have low standards if this is what you need to make you happy.”

“I think I have great standards. You’re the Prince.”

“Don’t start with that,” Nyx grinned as Noctis smacked his leg. “Just drive.”

“Yes, sir.”

Nyx remembered the first time he was in the city; the rusted out truck from home had been traded somewhere along the way when the recruiters caught up with them. He remembered the lights, the life, the overwhelming nature of the vast city sprawling out before him and his friends as they were dragged through the chaos and into a new life. He remembered the crappy Jeep the recruiters had used trundling across the dry and dusty roads of Leide, smoothing out with the city roads. He remembered the bile the dust kicked up; barely contained panic that had barely started to calm until he was acclimatized to the new world around him. 

He remembered the first time he was comfortable with the roads in the city enough to try navigating the twists and turns. 

That was nothing compared to the calm he felt now. 

“Where are we going, anyway?”

“Somewhere romantic, little star.”

“You don’t know, do you?”

“Not at all,” Nyx let the roads take him further than they had been on a whim before. He let the Star guide his way through the dizzying streets until the city gave way to manicured greenery. The farms spread out in shadow, the Wall a shimmer overhead as the streetlights and advertisements faded around them. The road passed over the manor houses and more spaced out residential neighbourhoods that had all claimed what little green space was left for the Crown City that wasn’t protected from development; the glow of the sweeter lives that had carried on beyond the garish city core a warmth in the night. 

He let the Star guide him out to where the fortifications rose like an impenetrable shadow looming over the barrier between Insomnia and the rest of the kingdom. He knew that the road would curve ahead, join with access roads that would carry shifts of Crownguard to the physical wall containing the sprawl of the city. There were no Gates out this way, but there were plenty of places for them to pull aside and just enjoy the evening. 

But for now, Nyx was happy to feel the freedom of the road for a while longer.


End file.
